U of M pilot project will put free tampons, pads in campus washrooms

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This article was published 09/02/2023 (974 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The University of Manitoba is stocking campus bathrooms with free pads and tampons, as part of a new pilot project to support students and staff members who menstruate.

School administrators and the U of M students’ union are partnering on a year-long initiative that will see dispensers with free products installed in select women’s and gender-neutral facilities across the Fort Garry, Bannatyne and William Norrie Centre sites.

“We are one of the most financially unstable populations, and yet we’re expected to pay exorbitant amounts for tuition, textbooks, student services and, of course, just general cost of living, all of which continue to rise,” said Victoria Romero, vice-president advocacy at UMSU, which represents about 26,000 undergraduate students at Manitoba’s largest post-secondary institute.

The third-year political science student noted menstrual products are not exempt from surging inflation — Canada’s annual average consumer price index rose by nearly seven per cent in 2022 — and high price tags are worsening concerns about “period poverty.”

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in an overall surge in demand for emergency resources on campuses provincewide.

Before classes even began in autumn, UMSU had already disbursed more than half of its student-hardship fund, a $20,000 pool set aside to support those in need throughout all of 2022-23 via one-time grants worth up to $500 each.

Romero said more people have been dropping by UMSU’s Women’s Centre to seek free products lately, and there was a notable increase in learners asking for them to be included in the union’s annual holiday hamper program.

Both the student leader and her colleague Christine Yasay, the union’s women’s representative, have been searching for funding sources for months in the hopes of supplying all campus community members with pads and tampons at no charge.

Manitoba announced it was partnering with Shoppers Drug Mart to provide free menstrual products to elementary and public schools at the start of the academic year. UMSU inquired about including post-secondary schools, but its pitch was denied.

A provincial spokesperson indicated the drugstore giant approached the government about the K-12 initiative, and referred UMSU to the company.

“The province fully supports access to menstrual products to all who need them… This initial partnership with Shoppers was to supply K-12 schools and some women’s serving organizations,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

U of M’s Laurie Schnarr, vice-provost students, recently agreed to allocate about $70,000 from her office’s student initiative fund to purchase products for the postsecondary pilot, effective immediately.

The multi-pronged initiative, believed to be the first of its kind on a campus in Manitoba, also includes putting calls out for donations at the campus food bank and UMSU stocking more of its offices with free pads and tampons.

“Any of us who are buying groceries these days and paying $8 for a head of lettuce knows how expensive it is right now, and we are seeing students going to the food bank and, anecdotally, hearing that they’re making tough choices and not purchasing personal-hygiene products because they need food,” Schnarr said.

Throughout the next 12 months, the senior administrator said she will be monitoring product uptake, collecting feedback and continuing to work with UMSU to try and secure stable funding.

“I am so happy that this is finally getting put into action…. It’s something that I was really passionate about implementing when I got elected as the UMSU women’s rep,” Yasay said, noting her goal is to have products available in all bathrooms, regardless of gender signage.

“This is going to create a great precedent for all Canadian universities.”

The University of British Columbia has been distributing free personal-hygiene products to community members since 2019 and student-advocacy efforts at the University of Ottawa have since led to a similar setup on its central campus.

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @macintoshmaggie